Toronto Bike Lanes

Toronto Sun >>

When you’re cycling in that narrow space between the curb and fast-moving traffic, and you’re hit by a truck, you tend to see the whole bike-lane debate differently.

I was riding on Queen St. W. last year when a truck came from behind, ran me over, and dragged me under it for 100 metres. With a broken pelvis, leg, ribs, and profuse bleeding, I was lucky to be alive.

But no one prepared me for this: Drivers who fight to deny cyclists a tiny fraction of the roads they dominate. Drivers who say “Yes, we may have three-quarters of the city streets, but that’s not enough.”

Some see bike lanes like the ones planned for Jarvis and debated for Bloor, as part of a “War on Cars.” The truth is, there has been a war in Toronto for years — not on drivers, but on everyone else.

When cars and bikes collide, we’re the ones to go to hospital: I spent two months at St. Mike’s. (The driver faces charges of making an unsafe turn.)

But some fail to see that cyclists are the only commuters to have no designated space of their own. Of Toronto’s 5,600 km of roads, there are only 100 km of bike lanes. Even pedestrians can walk safely in any street — in spite of the sprawl.
A lot of drivers are courteous and look out for their fellow travellers. But the hard core who believe there’s a “War on Cars,” should get your heads checked. Better still, duck your head out the window to see how we have prostituted ourselves for the pleasure of the driver.

Streets are congested and dangerous — with thousands injured every year. Smog and traffic pollution put people at risk of heart failure, asthma attacks and bronchitis.

We see evidence everywhere that our way of doing things is harming us, our children and our environment. So to continue as before is either lazy or terminally bull-headed. But to fight to prevent others from finding alternatives to the car is immoral.

Even if our sole purpose is to commute as quickly as possible, the key is to get people out of their cars and onto smaller, cleaner, more efficient vehicles. The way to do that is to modernize major roads — not keep building new ones.

Countless studies have found where more road space is created, traffic congestion increases: New drivers find and fill up the available space. But where there’s less room for cars — and alternatives available — congestion is lessened.

There’s no question families and long-distance commuters will still need to drive. But I’m puzzled by the 84% of Sun readers who said last week biking to school or work is not an option for them.

According to Statistics Canada, in Toronto alone more than 400,000 cars, trucks and fashionable SUVs travel less than 5 kms to work. That’s a short bike ride. Imagine if even 10% of those short-distance commuters cycled. That would take40,000 vehicles off the roads, and lessen the congestion and pollution we all claim to care about.

As it did with Jarvis, city council must overcome narrow-minded opposition and press ahead with Bloor St. bike lanes. Storeowners will lose a few customers, and gain some new ones.

In the short term, drivers may take a few minutes longer to get to work. But as word goes round, and more drivers leave their cars for bikes, we will all find in the long run, that we can move around like never before.

Our two-wheel converts will find a whole new way of life awaits: You’ll get in great shape, enjoy the adrenalin rush, and you’ll see things on your way that you never saw before.

Let’s get the show on the road: Bring on the bike lanes.